Season Five Alternative
by Tagas
Summary: A story that begins after the S5 episode Solo where Rachel goes on her first mission. Events that occur are things that I think may happen.


_This fanfic is just the way I think the rest of season five could go. It may or may not go this way (most likely it won't) but I might as well write all this stuff down anyway so if it really happens you can say you heard it first from me:P _

_It will be Sydney's POV when Sydney is in the scene. When Sydney is not there, it will be nobody's POV. The two will be separated by two big black lines. Don't worry, it'll be easy to tell. : )_

_In every chapter, the beginning will have a "Previously on Alias" in true Alias style. _

_The story starts after the episode "Solo" where Rachel goes on her first mission. Ignore the preview for next week's episode, I won't be using anything from it. )_

_Please enjoy._

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_Previously on Alias_

"Don't blame yourself Syd, there was no way you could have known," Allison said. "Just like when you recovered Rambaldi's journal, you had no idea that it contained a formula."

"You won't believe me if I told you," Curtis muttered, standing to his feet. He opened the door of the plane and was sucked outwards to his death.

"How's your daughter?" Dean asked. With a smirk, he walked away.

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**Shrouds**

Episode 5.7

"Rachel, grab my hand!" I screamed over the whir of the helicopter blades, reaching out for her. She was dangling on the edge of the helicopter as it soared through the air.

"I don't think I can!" She yelled back, nearly in tears. "Sydney, I'm losing my grip-"

"No, you can do it!" I encouraged her. My heart was hammering in my ears, and frankly I didn't know if she could. But I believed in her. "Rachel, grab my hand!"

My arm was lingering a few feet from her. I could tell just by looking that her grip was loosening. If she didn't grab my hand soon, she would fall. Dixon was piloting the helicopter, and we were above the ocean. There was no way we could land.

"Rachel, you can do it."

"Sydney..."

"Rachel, hurry, grab my hand!"

Rachel looked straight into my eyes. With a brief nod, she let go of the helicopter with one arm and extended it out towards me.

And then she lost her grip.

"RACHEL!"

I heard her screaming through the earpieces. When she broke the ocean surface, I no longer heard her.

**12 HOURS EARLIER**

I was sitting at home. Alone.

I was used to this by now. Rachel was usually never there, she was always at APO working, trying to find out more about Gordon Dean. Nadia had been in the hospitable for six months now, and Vaughn could no longer visit for obvious reasons... I was all alone.

Like I said, I was used to this.

A picture of Vaughn was sitting near me. I picked it up and just stared at it for a few minutes before setting it back down.

It angered me that I couldn't do more to try and find Dean. He could be anywhere out there, doing just about anything, and I couldn't do much about it because I was pregnant. Sure, I could sit behind a desk and do paperwork or give orders, but I couldn't do much in the field without endangering my baby. It wasn't the same... then again, nothing was the same without Vaughn.

I was startled when my phone rang.

"Hello?"

Renee's voice was crackly through the bad connection. "I may have a lead on Dean."

I instantly got up and started getting ready to go to work.

--

I met with Renee in a shack a few miles outside of Los Angeles. It wasn't the cleanest place I'd ever seen, but not like it mattered.

"What do you have?" I asked her, walking over to the table which she was standing next to.

"I was tracking someone named Olasna Pora for the past week," Renee answered. She was dressed in a skin-tight black leather suit. She kept talking. "I suspected that he was working for Gordon Dean, and I was right. He told me that Dean is planning on operating on the man that came out of the box."

"Operating?" I asked, shaking my head. "What does he mean by that?"

"He wouldn't tell me," Renee replied simply. I sighed.

"Alright, where is he now?"

"He's under the table."

Surprised, I looked under the table and sure enough, a greasy looking man was tied up on the floor. Wow, that was disturbing.

"You want to talk to him?" Renee asked. I shrugged.

"Why not."

She bent down and ripped the tape off of the man's mouth. Almost instantly he started screeching at the top of his lungs until Renee kicked him in the stomach and he shut up.

"He's been doing that since he accidentally let it slip about my father-" Renee paused and cleared her throat. I looked at the floor. She had only awoken the man in the box because she believed it had been her father. It hadn't been. "About the man in the box. Ever since he said that, he's been screaming every chance he gets. Not that it does him much good, we're in the middle of nowhere." She bent low to his face. "You hear that? Scream all you want but it won't help." She slapped him across his face and stood back up. I had to say, I liked the way she did things.

"Here, let me try," I offered, coming around the table so that his head was at my feet. "Look, I know you're worried about what will happen to you if you tell us about Dean. But I assure you that nothing will happen if you tell us where Dean is, or what he's doing... The CIA has many places where you could go, many places you would be safe at. I don't know how much you're involved with whatever Dean is doing, but regardless, if you just tell us..." I paused and gave him time to say something. He was panting and staring directly at me. Slowly, his eyes traveled down to my stomach.

"You..." He whispered. "Your child is going to be a bastard."

Instantly, my foot slammed into his face and he lost consciousness.

"Whoops."

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"I thought I told you to get me a copy of the index," Dean snarled at Sloane. The two were sitting in a restaurant with their backs to each other.

"There was no way I could get to it," Sloane responded, taking a sip from the ice water from the glass in his hands. "It was too heavily guarded. You know that my access at APO is severely limited now. There was nothing I could do."

"Of course there was," Dean growled. "But you just chose not to get it. Am I correct in guessing this?" Sloane didn't answer. "Of course I'm right. Let me ask you, is your daughter well? I saw you visiting her yesterday, you must have been able to tell if her condition is improving or not."

"You saw me visiting her?" Sloane repeated, his hand tightening around the glass. His tone was even but his eyes were cold as ice. Since the two were not looking at each other to decrease suspicion, Dean could not see this.

"Of course. Nadia is always in my sight. If at any time..." He didn't need to finish. He merely chuckled and stood to his feet. "It's alright. I no longer need the index. I have other things to attend to. Consider yourself, and your daughter, lucky, Mr. Sloane." Gordon Dean exited the restaurant.

Sloane crushed the glass of ice water with his bare hands.

--

Dean entered the limousine parked outside. Peyton was waiting inside for him.

"He didn't have the index did he?" She asked.

"No. But it doesn't matter," Dean answered. As the limousine began driving away, he said, "Desantis is prepped for the transplant?"

"Yes," Peyton said. "But there's something else."

"What is it?"

"Olasna has been captured by Renee Rienne."

"What!" Dean said, shocked. "Olasna Pora?"

"Yes."

Dean sat in silence for a few minutes, thinking. Finally, he sighed. "There's only one option we have then. I want you to kill him."

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It had been a few hours since I had met with Renee. I had went to APO after Renee had unsuccessfully tried to get more information out of Dean's cohort. This interrogation had included a pair of scissors and a sledgehammer. I won't go into details but Renee really knows how to force information out of people. Unfortunately, Olasna had lost consciousness once again and Renee promised to call me whenever he woke up, but I knew that wouldn't be any time soon after what Renee did to him.

"Hey, where have you been?" Dixon asked when he saw me. I told him and he nodded. "Leaving him with Renee is probably the best choice. Dean infiltrated this office before, he could do it again. Have you already talked to your father?"

"Yeah, I called him on my way over here," I responded. Dixon nodded again.

"Hey!" Someone called. I looked over and Tom was standing in the hallway. "Meeting in the briefing room in a few minutes."

I looked over at Dixon, my gaze asking him if he knew what it was about. He shook his head, and we both made our way towards the briefing room.

--

"We've just received some Intel and we have to act on it fast," Jack said as soon as everyone was sat down. "Dean has a list of suppliers, this list being called the Book. He's having it transported temporarily to a museum in China, the Cozera, and then it will be shipped out to who knows where. It is imperative that we steal the book while it is at the Cozera."

"Where did the Intel come from?" I asked.

"Sloane."

I sighed, wondering where he got this Intel from. Regardless of where he got it from, I didn't know if he could be trusted. Rachel looked from me to my father, and after a second asked, "Who is Sloane?"

The entire room looked up at her. I don't know what anyone else was thinking, but I found it extremely hard to believe that she didn't know who the most notorious terrorist on the planet was. And that was an understatement.

"I'll tell you later," Marshall replied. Rachel only nodded.

"We should leave immediately," Jack said. "If we plan on gaining the Book, we have no time to waste."

--

Three hours later, and Rachel and I were on our way to China with Dixon. I had a black wig, tons of makeup, and was dressed in a light red dress, and it really made my bulging stomach stand out.

Now more than ever I felt handicapped. Every time I went on a mission I was endangering the life of my child, but how could I just sit back and do nothing?

"We're almost there," Dixon stated. "Just a few more minutes."

The plan was that I would slip inside the Cozera and distract the guards while Rachel slipped past them and retrieved the Book. I was surprised when I learned I was the one to be doing the distracting, but I knew it was just another side effect of being pregnant.

The helicopter touched down on a mountain facing the ocean. Rachel and I climbed out.

"Good luck Sydney, Rachel," Dixon said with a smile. "I'll be waiting here for the two of you."

"Alright," Rachel responded. "Thank you Dixon."

With that, I slammed the door to the helicopter shut and we made out way across the lawn towards the Cozera.

I opened the door and stepped inside, Rachel following and heading in an opposite direction from me. Countless security cameras were posted around every wall, and two or three guards were guarding a staircase leading into the basement. I picked up a coin from my pocket and dropped it on the floor. The security cameras were shut off. Thank god for Marshall.

Suddenly, I realized I hadn't thought about what to do to get the guard's attention. I stood there for a few seconds searching my mind when I decided what to do. Time for a little acting.

"Oh..." I muttered, grabbing my bulging stomach. One of the guards looked at me. "My... My water broke!" Couldn't believe I was doing this and neither did Rachel, as I heard her chuckle in my earpiece.

I backed up against a wall and leaned against it, groaning. One of the guards started running over towards me, but there was still another guard at the staircase. That wouldn't do.

I started screaming. That did it, the other guard started rushing towards me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rachel pelt down the staircase as fast as she could. The guards helped me to my feet and sat me down in a chair near the corner of the wall. One of them started speaking in English, "Is there something I can do?"

I nodded and said, "Could you call someone... the hospital... I need an ambulance..."

The guard ran to a different room, most likely to a phone, while the other one stayed with me.

At that point I was thinking that this was pretty fun... until a second later.

An alarm started blaring.

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Renee was on the phone in the next room, the man now conscious in a chair at the table. He had been conscious for some time now, and Renee and him had just had a nice chat.

The door creaked open and someone entered the room.

"Peyton!" Olasna whispered. "You've come to bring me back!"

"Not exactly."

Peyton lifted her gun and shot him directly in the forehead. In the next room, Renee heard a silencer go off. She picked up a knife and slammed the door open.

Peyton turned the gun towards her. Renee tossed the knife at the gun, and it was knocked from Peyton's hand before she could shoot, onto the floor. Peyton bent down and grabbed the gun just before Renee tackled her into the wall. The gun fell from Peyton's hands again, and Renee kicked it across the room.

Peyton brought her leg up and smacked it across Renee's face. Renee hit the floor hard as Peyton brought her foot back up to smash into Renee, but she grabbed Peyton's foot and twisted it. With a shout, Peyton flipped down onto the floor beside Renee. Renee smashed her elbow into Peyton's nose. Peyton screeched in pain as Renee jumped to her feet and started running towards the gun lying at the other side of the room.

Peyton flipped onto her feet, saw Renee pick up the gun, and dashed out the door. Renee shot at her but missed, hitting the door. Renee ran outside, but Peyton was waiting at the doorway. She punched Renee hard in the face, and Renee stumbled backwards. Renee regained herself, pointing the gun at Peyton but the arm with the gun was grabbed and forced backwards. Peyton used her other arm to grab Renee's other arm, and she shoved Renee into the wall. The two struggled against each other until Renee kneed Peyton in the stomach. She gasped and winced in pain, her head bobbing slightly forward. Renee took the opportunity and head-butted Peyton as hard as she could. Peyton let go of Renee in pain, and Renee kicked her in the jaw. Peyton fell to the grass, Renee bringing the gun up and firing twice.

Peyton died two minutes later.

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The guard helping me instantly abandoned me and made his way towards the staircase. A few seconds later, the other one shot out of the room he was in and followed the first guard.

"Sydney, I must have tripped some sort of silent alarm!" Rachel's voice screamed into my ear.

"Rachel, do you have the Book?"

"Yes!"

"Alright, just head up the stairs," I said, pointing the ring on my finger at one of the guards and pressing down on it. A tranquilizer shot out from it and imbedded itself in the guard, who fell to the ground. The other guard turned towards me but it was then that Rachel appeared at the top of the steps. She slammed a large book into the guard, obviously the Book, and he fell against the wall.

"Rachel, meet me at the extraction point," I commanded, walking out of the door. I was in view of the helicopter when I heard a shot fire in my earpiece.

"Rachel?" I slowed my walking and turned towards the building, my heart pounding. "Rachel, are you okay?"

She didn't answer, but I saw her running towards me, two or three men behind her firing. I turned towards the copter and started racing there as fast as I could possibly run.

Dixon was already hovering in the air, and I climbed aboard, Rachel a few yards behind me. Dixon started steering the copter away, out towards the ocean.

"Rachel, you're going to have to grab onto the helicopter while it's flying away," I told her, and I knew she was panicked by this by the way she gasped. "I'll pull you inside when we're far enough away from-"

A shot whizzed past my ear and I ducked deeper inside the helicopter.

"You good?" Dixon asked me, and I nodded, breathing hard. He nodded back and started flying out over the ocean.

Rachel grabbed onto it before the helicopter got out of reach. A few more bullets were fired but they ceased fire soon enough.

"All right Rachel, just hang on, I'm coming for you," I told her, walking over to where she was hanging.

"Sydney- help me!"

I looked down at her hands and saw that they didn't have a good grip on the helicopter. Not a good grip at all. My heart did a back flip as I realized she might fall.

"Rachel, grab my hand!" I screamed over the whir of the helicopter blades, reaching out for her.

"I don't think I can!" She yelled back, nearly in tears. "Sydney, I'm losing my grip-"

"No, you can do it!" I encouraged her. My heart was hammering in my ears, and frankly I didn't know if she could. But I believed in her. "Rachel, grab my hand!"

My arm was lingering a few feet from her. I could tell just by looking that her grip was loosening. If she didn't grab my hand soon, she would fall. We were above the ocean, and there was no way we could land.

"Rachel, you can do it."

"Sydney..."

"Rachel, hurry, grab my hand!"

Rachel looked straight into my eyes. With a brief nod, she let go of the helicopter with one arm and extended it out towards me.

And then she lost her grip.

"RACHEL!"

I heard her screaming through the earpieces. When she broke the ocean surface, I no longer heard her.

"Rachel!" Dixon yelled, instantly steering the helicopter downwards.

"Rachel, are you there?" I asked. No answer. My eyes started watering. "Rachel, are you okay?" Still no answer.

When we reached the ocean, we couldn't find her.

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"I take it that Peyton is dead?" Rachel asked, using a towel to dry her hair.

"Of course," Dean replied, steering the small boat to the left. Rachel smiled.

"That's good. Oh, and thank you for extracting me."

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_R&R Please: )_


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